Siena Names McKeown, Cometti Assistant Lacrosse Coaches

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Second-year Siena head coach John Svec has named his lacrosse coaching staff for the upcoming season. Former Binghamton interim head coach Kevin McKeown will serve as defensive coordinator, while Mark Cometti, who served as a volunteer assistant for the Saints during their 2011 MAAC championship season, returns to head the offense.

"I am pleased to welcome Coach McKeown and Coach Cometti to the Siena Lacrosse family," said Svec. "The addition of these two fine coaches will help us achieve our goals of consistently winning MAAC Championships and getting this program back to the NCAA Tournament."

McKeown joins the Saints following a four-year stint as the defensive coordinator and goalie coach for the Bearcats. During the 2011 season, McKeown served as the interim head coach and made his head coaching debut on Mar. 22 at Siena. McKeown guided the Bearcats to a 3-5 overall record and 3-2 conference mark to close out the season in a tie for second place in the America East for a team which was selected last in the preseason poll.

McKeown began his coaching career at Elmira College from 2007-08. As a collegiate athlete, McKeown played goalie for Binghamton from 2003-06. A two-time captain, he was named the America East Conference Player of the Year and a USILA All-American Honorable Mention as just a sophomore in 2004 and was a USILA Scholar All-American in 2006.

A 2006 graduate of Binghamton with a B.A. in Economics, McKeown earned a Masters of Science in Education from Elmira in 2008.

"Coach McKeown did a tremendous job leading Binghamton to the America East semifinals during the 2011 season," added Svec. "Having him on our staff gives us a great amount of knowledge at both the defensive end as a whole and the goalie position specifically."

Cometti returns to Siena after spending the last two years as an assistant coach with The College of Saint Rose. Cometti took the reigns as interim head coach during the Summer of 2011 and then assisted in the program's inaugural season last spring when Saint Rose posted a winning record and finished in the top-20 nationally in offense at the Division II level.

Cometti served as goalie and face-off coordinator and assistant offensive coordinator for the Saints in 2011. Under his guidance, Siena goalie Tom Morr finished fifth nationally in save percentage (.594) and eighth in saves per game (11.61) and the Saints ranked 21st nationally in faceoffs (.526) and eighth in scoring offense (11.4).

A graduate of UAlbany, Cometti was a two-time captain at midfield for the Great Danes from 2006-10. During his sophomore season, UAlbany won the America East Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Cometti earned Bachelor of Arts from UAlbany in 2010.

"I recruited Coach Cometti to Albany and had the chance to coach him for three years where he was a major part of the success those teams had," noted Svec. "His knowledge of the game and demeanor will translate well to our players."

McKeown and Cometti join a Siena Lacrosse program coming off an 11-5 season this spring in which the Saints won the MAAC Regular Season Championship and advanced to the conference championship game.